The Clones Cyclone was in great form ahead of Frampton’s fight for the IBF super-bantamweight belt…
Tiger Bay native Carl Frampton has a date with destiny on Saturday as he once again meets Kiko Martinez in the ring. This time though he will be challenging for his first world title belt against the Spanish IBF super-bantamweight champion.
‘The Jackal’ knocked out Martinez last February but the Spaniard has since gone on to claim the world title in August.
Frampton’s pro record is impressive though, winning all of his 18 fights (13 KOs), but his legendary and iconic promoter Barry McGuigan says that his protégé has to be on his guard.
We caught up with the former WBA featherweight champion to get his views on…
Promoting such a big event…
It’s not so easy because you have no control as a boxing promoter. Putting on a show of this size and magnitude is an all consuming task and and it takes up very single thought and moment of your day.
My family and the team around me have helped take away some of the weight on my shoulders but you still constantly find yourself thinking about the event. The financial commitment is also factor, the Northern Ireland Executive and the tourist board have been a huge help to Cyclone Promotions and I’m very grateful for all their help in putting on such a world class event.
This place looking amazing. Kiko’s in town the tension is building, watch it on @boxnationtv #TitanicShowdown pic.twitter.com/XuMG9O8iqa
— Barry McGuigan (@ClonesCyclone) September 1, 2014
Is he more nervous as a boxer or a promoter…
The great thing about being a boxer is that once the bell rings your nerves are gone because preparation, hard work and training take hold.
When you’re outside of the the ring though you constantly find yourself pushing the team that are organising the event. I’m definitely not enjoying the build up to this fight on Saturday as much as I did as a fighter but its still hugely exciting and thrilling to help organise an event like this.
The location…
It’s just phenomenal. The ring will be right under the shadow of Samson and Goliath, the two famous cranes in the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast. That’s not all because the magnificent new Titanic Quarter building is just to the right and Belfast Castle isn’t too far away also. It’s incredibly iconic and historic.
On Martinez..
It will be a very tough fight because Kiko is a very proud champion and he wants vengeance for the fact that Carl has beaten him before. Martinez has won the title since then of course so there definitely will be a few nerves.
Carl is in fantastic shape and is ready for this fight but any fighter can still get caught with a punch. We’re hoping this won’t happen of course but it’s equally true for Kiko. The fight could end in the first or the last round, that’s the beauty of boxing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSwjri6CuhU
Clip via – myloveinter2
On Frampton…
Frampton is a very special talent and boxers like him may only come around once in a life time. I genuinely believe that he can become one of the best fighters that Ireland has ever had but to do this he has to win a world title first.
Carl is super talented with fast-hands, explosive power and he can fight off the front or the back foot. He’s in incredible shape. The kid has probably sparred around 250 rounds so far over an intense 16 weeks of training camps and is one of the most skilful boxers around. He definitely has more than Kiko and I’m confident that he will show that on Saturday.
Psychologically, the knock-out that Carl gave him back in February has got to be playing on his mind and when he gets hit that hard again it will definitely send shock waves through him.
On the delay between Frampton’s potential fight with Santa Cruz…
We went out to Allicante and made him a very good offer which he said no to. It was very disappointing because we wasted 6 months before going down the WBC route, who were very good to us with the Cazares fight, and we would like to fight for that title in the future with a bit of luck.
Santa Cruz was originally quite open about the idea of a fight but after he saw Cezares being knocked out by Carl in two rounds we heard nothing after, total radio silence.
We went to Golden Boy promotions and they made a number of excuses about internal difficulties, which they did actually have following the De La Hoya split with Richard Schaefer, but it left us twiddling our thumbs a bit.
What type of fight to expect…
Both these guys have real power and can deliver a knockout punch, that’s why Carl has got to be 100% focused as soon as that bell rings, which I’m sure he will be. He’s ready, focused and respectful of Kiko just like he was in the their last fight.
On coaching…
I haven’t totally stepped back from that side of things because I go in and look over Shane’s shoulder (his son and Carl’s coach) from time to time.
Shane always fills me with confidence especially by the way he gets guys in shape and just how much effort he is able to get out of every fighter that he works with. I love watching the fighters train but I leave him to deal with the pad work, the diet and the day to day stuff.
We have a very collaborative relationship. It’s 24/7 with boxing in our house because we talk about it, we watch it and think about it all the time. Even my daughters are boxing experts!
#11DaysToGo and never before has @RealCFrampton been in such incredible shape! #Worldtitle #belfast #boxing #legend pic.twitter.com/kFC9ILFcGx
— James Leniston (@JLeniston) August 26, 2014
A potential future fight in Dublin…
First off, we have to get the job done on Saturday because there are a number of big fights out there for Carl but he has to win a world title first.
I would love to bring Carl down to Dublin because he was in the High Performance team for five years and he loves the place. If all goes well on Saturday then we may have a mandatory defence before Christmas and I would genuinely consider coming to Dublin.
London, Manchester or Liverpool would also be options but it’s always a case of getting the numbers to add up. That’s the most important thing.
His views on Jason Quigley moving to America…
Jason is such a fantastic talent but in my opinion they went about things the wrong way. In my opinion, the first step is always about getting your own fans behind you and building up the fan base which he has in Donegal.
He should have stayed and boxed here because he could even have gotten network television interested, especially on the back of winning the world silver.
It’s much tougher in America but I’m sure Golden Boy have forked out a lot of money for him. He is a very ambitious kid and I wish him all the best but I think it’s going to be tough for him to make it out there because there are so many talented fighters out there.
I wish him and his team good luck but I would have done it differently. He is starting from scratch again whereas here he could have started at a high level with media recognition especially since he was a Sky Sports athlete and a silver medallist.
Talented boxers leaving Ireland...
There are loads of kids in the Irish boxing teams that would like to turn pro but there is no natural steps or progression for them to pursue apart from upping sticks and moving away.
My modus operandi has always been to develop boxing in Belfast because we want to create a conveyor belt of champions that turn quality amateurs into world class pros.
His sense of pride from organising this event…
Without doubt I’ll have an immense sense of pride when I look around on the night and see all these boxing fans in Belfast although we will be praying for good weather!
There still might be a wee bite in the air so wrap up well. The Odyssey and O2 weren’t big enough so we knew it was going to be outside. Casement Park and Windsor Park were in the middle of re-construction so this amazing arena was specifically built for Carl.
The suggestion to use this venue actually came from the First Minister, Peter Robinson, and it has turned out to be a better venue than we could have hoped for. It’s 400 metres from where he grew up and surrounded by this magnificent history. We’re hoping that Carl will make his own piece of history on Saturday night.
JOE would like to say a massive thank you to the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and EventServ who helped organise this interview. They will also he helping us greatly as we bring you all the news in the build up to the fight.
